Shoe heel



April 3, 1934. R. cAlAzzo 1,953,744

sHoE HEEL Filed March 15, 1932 Elllll lill- I -l IN V ENTO R Zai/z' az'azza Patented pr. 3, v1934 Y f UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIcE 1,953,744 SHoE `HEEL Ralph Caiazzo, Brooklyn, N. Y. Application Marcliv 15, 1932, Serial No. 599,003

1 Claim. (Cl. 36-34) This invention relates to improvements in leather; with these parts so combined that one shoeeheels; the invention having a 'plurality of of such lifts or layers, applied directly to the utilities especially applicable to ladies shoebottom of the wooden or other shoe-heel of a heels. However, the invention is notlto be lim ladies shoe, or equivalently to the bottom of the 5 lted to ladies shoe-heels, and may,0f course, heel of'any shoe, is always maintained in that 3 be applied to mens and childrens shoe-heels. location, and is always protected by said means It is well known that shoeheels,jnwhetlier or against contact with the pavement to wear away not having a familiar type of rubber heel atA or otherwise injure the same. the bottom wear away unevenly practically al- Still another object of the invention, especially` l0 wayson one side of the foot or the other. Befor ladies shoes, is to provide a shoe-heel built 65 cause of differing strides and mannersof lwaikup so as lto include the means aforesaid, and f ingv of different persons, such wearing` away of wherein a new decorative effect is 'achieved by thelower leather lift or of the .bottom rubber virtue of the general assembly, and particularly heel Varies. In any case, however, `such lift 0r. by the appearance and ornamentation possibililrubber heel Wears away unevenly. lWhen this .ties of the part, or parts, of said means which 7@ uneven wear has progressed to suchen extent is, or are, exposed while the shoe is on the foot that Verle Side 0f the heel is about 1/s" higher of the wearer. In this aspect, the invention contharl the Other, this Condition, prevelbially stitutes an improvement over the ladies shoelspoken of as run down at the heei, With all heels disclosed and claimed in U. S. patent to 2o' its familiar connotation of lack of financial well me No, 1,794,944. It beine or social carelessness, is noticeable even other objects and advantages of the invention t0 the Casual Observer. MOSt DelSOhS are dewill be hereinafter specifically pointed out, or sirous of maintaining theirY fOOt-Weel.` iu OtheIl will become apparent as the specification prothan this condition at all times, and would imneeds,

- mediately, were the condition brought to their` A In the form of my invention which I now con- 8c attentiOIl DIODelly, Visit a shemakerflhd have Sider best, the shoe-heel comprises a shell, kdethe .heel bottom straightened by a replacement sirably of metal, shaped at its periphery to folof the worn-away part. ,A lowthe` outline of the heel, and cupped,v dished I One Of the Objects 0f the present invention or otherwise suitably shaped on opposite sides for Bil'is t0 DIOVide a ShOe-heei S0 built up' as t0 ina fitting to each of such shapings of one of two 85 clude means' for always giving instant notice to lifts of leather, rubber or the like, so that a main the wearerthat it is time t0 visit the Shoemaker flat web of said shell lies horizontally; said shell` for the purpose of such replacement, with prefbeing so Yforined as to assist in positioning the erebly sueh means s0 eerlstituted that it perlifts interlockingly of web shapings, and in se- `forms other useful functions as well. .curing the lifts and the shell as one unit, yet a 90 Rubber shoe-heels have come largely into fahighly resilient unit if one or more of the lifts be Vorffor their COmfOit and quiet- Rubber, hOW of rubber, to the bottom of the heel, as by nails ever, is comparatively expensive; and the best of familiar type passing through'au three elegrade 0f Dure and highly elastic rubber is dements. Also, in this approved form of the inven- 40 sirable forv the making of rubber shoe-heels.4 tion, the shell bottom includes a cup formed in 95 Another object of the present invention is to part of` a depending skirt following the outline l provide a shoe-heel, as above described, wherein of the heel; the bottom line of which skirt when said means is so combined with the other4 parts the unit has a new bottom lift lies about 1/84", or of the new` heel that, when straighteningof the other suitable and intended distance, above they heel is required due to its wearing down to about bottom of the lift last mentioned. The thus-ex- 100 thelimit above mentioned at one side or the posed skirt, particularly when scalloped, indentf other, the replacement unit required has a bulk ed, or similarly shaped along its lower edge, forms of rubber (or leather) approximately equal to, at; once a decorative adjunct and a warning apor evenv somewhat less than, half that of the pliance, functioning in this latter regard by giv- 505 usual rubber heel. ing a discordant scraping sound to the ears and a l05 i A further object of the invention is to projar to the foot of the wearer of the shoe when vide a shoe-heel so composited or built up as said bottom lift becomes so unevenly worn away to include the means aforesaid, and a plurality at one side or the other as to approach shabbiof lifts, or layers, of rubber or leather or the ness of shoe appearance. "'-like, or one, say, of rubber and the other of Apreferred embodiment of the invention in acn 110 Fig. 6 is a bottom plan view of the upper lift;

and

Fig. '7 is a similar View of a modified formv et,

bottom lift.

A familiar type of ladies wooden shoe heel is indicated at 10. l

Referring to the form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6, the shoe-heel shown includes a bottom lift 11, preferably of rubber, an intermediate shell 12, preferably of steel, andan upper lift 13,'preferably of rubber.

The ,shell 12 has a web portionZa provided withv a central opening 12b of the shape shown as the resultof taking away all ,metal except that required marginally `of the web andv that required to establish three projections 12e, 12e', andlZc?. eachhaving a nail hole 12d therethrough. marginal portion of the web is dished into an upper convexity, thusconstituting a shaping 12JL for lentering and inter-fitting with `a properly, formed concavityin the bottom of the upper lift,A 13. Beyond the. web, the shell 12 has a dependingY skirt 12g, making of the bottom of the shell a,

cup into which is entered the upper portion ,of the bottom lift l1. In the arrangement shown, this causes the lower portion of said lift to protrude somewhat less than 1/8 below the bottom of the skirt 12g.

Since considerable grinding or: twisting stress is imparted to the lower or 'tread surface ef the bottom lift l1 .during walking, saidliit is addi-. tionally interlocked with the shell by molding or otherwise forming said lift so that the latter carries on vtop thereof, a flat topped projeeticn, shaped to t nicely within the central opening' 12b of the shell or the upper lift 13 may be provided with a lower projection 13a as shown in Fig. 3 to t in said opening 12b.

'Nails 14 or Ythe like sent through the lower lift,`

nevertheless, pass through the. web of the shell by way of the holes 12d, and also through the upper lift and inte the wooden heel 10.

When the lower lift has become so unevenly, or, in theA rare case, evenly worn away las to cause the skirt 12g to act, as hereinabove explained, as a warning device, the nails 14 are withdrawn,

the lift 11 discarded, and, with .a new lowerlift substituted therefor, the same or similar nails are again applied, as just described, to remount the unit on the 'wooden heel 10. Thisisa quick operation, due to the inter-fitting of the parts 11,

12, 13, as above pointed out, so that the unit of,

the invention may be handled easilyand without,

` special care against accidental shifting, of, one

part of the unit relative to another. lIn order at the same time to insure instantaneous proper itting of the upper side of the upper lift 13 to' the under side of the wooden heel 10, said upper lift, as shown, has integrally molded therearound an up-standing marginal bead or ridge 13a' forming a cup receptor for the bottom of the wooden heel. Such, or an equivalent, shaping of the upper portion of the upper lift 13 may be dispensed with; but the same is preferred for the purpose just mentioned, and also for adding a novel, decorative eiTect to the bottom of the shoe-heel, particularly in the case of ya ladies shoe..

The skirt 12g of the shell is here shown as having its lower edge scalloped, giving one possible decorative effect. Such skirt may be otherwise shaped, for instance, given a straight or wavy lower edge. Whatever its edge shaping, it may have its exposed surface given any desired decoration, as by chasing, stamping, piercing, enameling, je wel-insetting, or otherwise. The surface or applied decoration may be one color or varicolored. Whether the skirt surface is plain or embellished, the same may have any desired finish.- For instance, if the shell is, of brass, as it may well be, it may be merely polished, or nickel or chromium plated.

Referring to the modification shown in Fig. '7, withtheupper lift and the shell as above described, the lower lift can be so shaped vas, to utilize all or a part of the opening 12b inthe web of the shell as. a means for providing be- Atween the two lifts one or more sealed compartmentsfor pocketing airtherein thereby to increase the cushioning effect of the new unit-by` interposing air cushions. For example, two such compartments will be provided when a lower liftis employedwhich isshaped as. shown in Fig. 7. thesame time, the interlocking of that lift with the-shell by way of a flat topped projection on the top of the lift will, nevertheless, be obtained-. The lift 13 of Fig. 7, it will be noted, has such projection, which is marked 132., shaped in such' ivay that the projection is elongated lengthwisely of the shoe with an indentation at one end and with such end inter-ttingwith the projection 12e and the opposite end interflttedbetweentheprojections 12e and 12e2 of of the web of the shell. When the lparts are thus assembled, theA outline of the vopening inthey shell,

is as indicated in dot and dash lines in Fig. 7. Thus,air,cushioncompartments will be provided in the assembled-unit at 15 and 15a.

Thev hereinbefore described construction admitsof considerable modifications vwithout departing from the invention; therefore, I do not wish' to be limited to the precise arrangements shown and described, which are, as aforesaid, by wayof illustration merely. In other Iwords,. the scope of protection, contemplated is to be. taken solelyfrom the appended claim, interpreted as broadly` as is consistent with the prior art..

What `is claimed is:

A composite heel including a pair of lifts, and an interposed element of comparatively 'rigid material, said element having downturnedportions terminating intermediate the top andbottom of the lift therebelow, the upper lift'having at its upper side a marginaly ridge to provide a cup-shaped receptor for thebottom ofthe heel proper. 

